Tool for removing threaded jar-caps



N. R. HASTINGS 2,854fi72 TOOL FOR REMOVING THREADED JAR-CAPS Filed March 16, 1956 INVENTOR NR. HASTINGS ATTORNEY United States The present invention relates to a tool for providing a clamping action and more specifically to a tool. for gripping screw caps of containers for applying andremoving such caps for containers such as jars or the like.

Heretofore, various types of devices including hand manipulated tools have been used for applying a twisting action to screw tops for the purpose of removing and applying such screw tops to containers, and even though some devices have been applied to a supporting wall or shelf none have been entirely satisfactory since the gripping structure would slip and frequently cause injury to a person.

An object of the present invention is to overcome the defects of prior devices and to provide a tool for the gripping a screw cap of a container for applying and removing such cap.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a tool of general. utility adapted to produce an increasing clamping action by the manipulation of the article being clamped.

A further object is to provide a parallelogram linkage arrangement which will adjust for accommodating articles of varying sizes without requiring separate adjustments.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of the cap removing device of the present invention attached to a fragmentarily shown wall and showing in phantom outline a container with the cap thereon and dotted line illustrations of the limit of movement of the clamping jaws;

Fig. 2, a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing the supporting angle iron and the clamping jaws;

Fig. 3, a detail sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 illustrating the pivotal connection of the links to a clamping jaw;

Fig. 4, a fragmentary enlarged detail of a fragment of a jaw showing the overlapping gripping teeth in plan;

Fig. 5, a transverse section of a modified form of link suitable for the device;

Fig. 6, a fragment of the supporting angle member showing one manner in which the upright flange may be attached to a supporting wall or plate; and

Fig. 7, a fragmentary perspective of one way of attaching the jar cap tool to the under side of a shelf.

Briefly stated, the present invention comprises an elongated stationary jaw with means for supporting such jaw in a fixed position and a movable jaw arranged in spaced substantially parallel relation to the fixed jaw and connected thereto by spaced links which provide a parallelogram shape adapted to receive jar caps of varying sizes, adjustment being made in the angularity between the linked jaws. Teeth are provided on the adjacent edges of the fixed and movable jaws with the teeth serving as detent means to prevent movement in one direction, and in one form of the invention two sets of teeth are provided in each jaw so that the tool may be atent ice 3 used in either application of the cap or the removal of a cap from a jar.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, upon a wall 10 an elongated angle member 11 of aluminum or other suitable material is mounted with one flange 11A fixed to the wall by suitable fastening means 12 and the other flange 11B projecting outwardly from such wall and provided with a rabbet groove 13' in which a pair of toothed elements 14 and 15', such as hacksaw blades, are arranged in superposed relation with the teeth of one element extending in an opposed direction to the teeth of the other element as clearly shown in Fig. 4, the upper surface of the pair of toothed elements being in engagement with the under surface of the rabbet and the lower surface of the pair of toothed elements being in contact with a spacer 16 as shown in Pig. 2, the toothed elements 14, 15 and spacer 16 being secured to the web 17 of the rabbet by means of a countersunkscrew 18 in engagement with a cooperating countersunk nut 19, so as to provide smooth surfaces on the flange 11B of the elongated angle member 11.

The flange 11B is provided with a pair of spaced aper-- by means of bolts 23 and nuts 24, which bolts pass through the sleeve 20 and the heads of the bolts and the nuts prevent separation of the links.

The sleeve 20 is of greater length than the combined thickness of flange 11B and links 21 and 22 so that such links may move freely in a pivotal action while the cooperating nuts 24 and the heads of the bolts 23 secure such links against axial displacement. The flange 11B with the toothed elements 14 and 15 thereon provide one clamping jaw and a second clamping jaw 25 is pivotally connected to the outer end of the links 21 and 22. Said second clamping jaw comprises a bar 26, an upper plate 27, and a lower plate 28 each provided with aligned spaced. apertures through which sleeves 29 (Fig. 3) extend, such sleeves also passing through registering apertures in the outer ends of the associated links 21 and 22 with the sleeve 29 being of greater length than the combined thicknesses of bar 26, plates 2! and 28, and links 21 and 22, fastening bolts 30 passing through the sleeve 29 and cooperating with nuts 31 securing the parts in assembled relation while permitting the pivotal movement. A pair of toothed elements 32 and 33 are positioned in the space formed by projecting portions of the plates 27 and 28 and the inner edge of the bar 26 being secured therein by means of countersunk bolts 34 and countersunk nuts 35 which pass through the projecting portions of the plates and through the toothed elements 32 and 33. it will be evident that the teeth of the toothed elements 312 and 33 are arranged in opposed relation similar to the teeth of toothed elements 14 and 15.

From the above description, it is believed that the operation of the present invention should be apparent, the angle member 11 being fixed to the wall and the jaws being arranged as shown in full lines in Fig. l, a person places a jar 36 shown in phantom with its cap 37 arranged so that the edge of the cap is in engagement with the toothed element 14, 15 and 32, 33, the movable clamping jaw 25 of the parallelogram being moved so that jaw 25 is urged to the left and the teeth of the clamping jaws bite into the cap sufliciently to prevent rotation of such cap 37. Then as a person turns the jar 36 in a direction to unscrew the jar 36 from the cap 37, the cap will remain stationary and as the force is applied in the unscrewing 3 operation the clamping jaws will more tightly grip the cap by the teeth biting into the cap by the clamping action and further turning of the jar will cause the ar to be unscrewed from the cap. When it is desired to tighten the screw cap 37 onto a jar 36, the screw cap 37 is turned by hand onto jar 36 until it is snug and then the jar is positioned as shown in phantom lines While the movable clamping jaw 25 of the parallelogram is urged to the right and the jar is then turned in such a way as to be screwed into the cap. As force is applied in the tightening operation the teeth bite more securely into the cap thereby facilitating the application of the cap to the jar.

In Fig. 5 a modified form of link 38 is shown in section provided with a reinforcing rib or bead. In Fig. 6 one manner of attaching the angle member 11 to the wall is shown to include fastening means such as a screw 39, shown in dotted line, fixed to a wall with the screw head of a size to pass through an enlargement 40 of an elongated slot 41 in flange 11A, such an arrangement permitting the angle member to be reversed with the flange 11B on the under side of flange 11A if desired. By having the angle member reversible, a single toothed element may be used in each jaw, with the teeth in one jaw opposed to the teeth in the other jaw so the teeth will bite into the cap during the removal of the jar from the cap in the illustrated position and the teeth will bite into the cap on application of the cap when inverted or in the up-side-down position of the device when the jar is being screw into the cap for obtaining a tight seal.

If desired, a separate plate may be provided with headed studs of a size to extend through the enlargement40on the elongated slot 41 and such plate may be fixed to the wall in any suitable manner, thus facilitating mounting of the plate without regard to the location of studding in a wall since the plate could be of sufficient length to extend between adjacent studs, if desired.

As shown in Fig. 7, the angle member 11 including flanges 11A and 11B may be mounted on a shelf 44 by means of a pair of angle brackets, each bracket having a lower vertical web 42 and an upper horizontal web 43, the web 43 having a plurality of apertures receiving screws 45 by means of which the brackets are fixed to the shelf upon the lower web 42 of each bracket, and a stud or bolt 46 secures the flange 11A in fixed relation to the bracket, thereby fixedly mounting the tool on the supporting shelf 44. It will be evident that the elongated slot structure may be used, if desired, and a pair of brackets may be furnished with each device for selective mounting on a wall as shown in Fig. 1, or on brackets supported from a shelf as shown in Fig. 7.

It will be evident that the tool may be made as a hand implement if desired and may be used for other gripping and turning operations for which it may be adaptable.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit ad scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is illustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for removing screw caps comprising a pair of flanges forming an elongated angle member having means for attaching one flange to a supporting wall, the other flange of said angle member being rabbetted on its inner surface, a pair of toothed elements arranged in superposed relation with the teeth of each element extending in an opposed direction to the teeth of the other element, one surface of each of the pair of toothed members being in engagement with the rabbet of said angle member, a spacer strip on the other surface of said pair of toothed elements, and means to secure said toothed elements and spacer strip in fixed relation on said other flange of said angle member while maintaining a smooth upper and lower surface on said other flange, said other flange of said angle member being provided with spaced apertures therethrough, a spacing sleeve in each aperture, links on each side of said flange connected to the adjacent sleeve, a bolt extending through said sleeve retaining said links, said sleeve being of greater length than the combined thickness of said other flange and said links whereby said links may freely pivot about said sleeve, a second clamping jaw comprising a bar and a plate on each side of said bar and projecting inwardly toward said other flange providing a space inwardly of said bar, a pair of toothed elements in said space, the teeth of one of said elements extending in one direction and the teeth of the other of said elements extending in the other direction, means to secure said toothed elements to said plate without projections from the surfaces of said plates, said bar and plates being provided with apertures spaced apart substantially the same distance as the apertures on said angle member, said links being provided with apertures registering with the apertures in said bar and plates, a sleeve in each set of cooperating apertures providing a pivot, a bolt extending through said sleeve and securing said links, plates and bar together while permitting free pivotal movement at each aperture, said device being suitable for applying and removing screw caps.

2; A device for removing the caps of containers comprising a first jaw, means for fixedly mounting said jaw on a support, a second jaw located substantially parallel to the first jaw, said jaws having gripping means disposed along confronting faces, a pair of substantially parallel links pivotally connecting said jaws in spaced relation and maintaining them in substantial parallelism as the second jaw is moved relative to the first jaw, the movement of the second jaw being toward and away from the first jaw, said links mounted intermediate the ends of the first jaw and at the ends of the second jaw, the first jaw being of greater length than the second jaw so as to continuously provide an engaging surface opposite the second jaw as the second jaw is moved toward said first jaw and the varying of space between gripping surfaces of the jaws enabling caps of containers of different sizes to be held.

References Cited in the file of this patent Great Britain Feb. 10, 1949 

